Muskie season is open in my neck of the woods so I spent some days pursuing them this week. Took my 2 boys out muskie fishing....always a challenge for younger guys.

Fishing for the week went as follows.

Surface water temps were 53-57 depending on day and area of lake.

Muskie.... Still pretty slow. The method that put the most hooks into fish was to search with a jerkbait then when a follow was seen to return to the spot in a few minutes and fish a jig through the area dragging and bumping it on the bottom. A 6 inch Suick and Rapala Super Shad Rap fished in a jerk bait rythm were top jerk baits this week. As for the jigs, a Mogumbo 6 inch curl tail was the most effective. Most successful colors were shad imitators. This would be expected as the fishery has shad as the primary forage and is a clear lake as well. Most fish still in bays or at the first structural element toward the main lake basin from the bays.

White Bass...The white bass bite continues to be excellent. Most any creek or current area into the lakes have whites at them. Fishing original Rapala minnows in a quick fashion lets you cover water and nail lots of fish. Keep a second rod rigged with a diving crankbait or a small spoon for when the school goes deeper. A little cleo spoon in chrome/blue or chrome/charteruse were top producers in the spoon catagory this week. Using this 2 prong approach put a ton of whites in the boat this past week. A good many whites also caught on a jig/minnow combo.

Missouri. I guide for Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Adventures headquarters in Springfield, Missouri. There are 6 lakes, river systems that I fish in Missouri for ski's. State record is a little over 40 pounds. Largest I personally saw boated last year was 47 inches. Incidentally, I saw a legit 6 pound eye caught by a guy trolling a jig/minnow one day last week while I was fishing muskies.

Muskie season is open year round in Missouri so it adds several additional months to the fishing calendar. There are periods that may have ice over the lakes.. but not real often and not normally for over a month when they do occour. Prime times for hot muskie action here are mid February-May and October - mid December. If you get a hankering to stick a ski give me a call.

In a "normal" year I will live the majority of the summer up north and the months of September (or whenever school starts) through May or June down south. I normally have a somewhat even split of fishing time between Missouri, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Canada in a year. The longer muskie season in Missouri lets me stick muskies for several extra months each year. That rocks out loud in my book.

My personal best muskie in Missouri has been 45 inches. My largest was a 49 inch 35 pounder that came from the Chippewa River arm of Lake Wissota over by Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Lots of them in the 45-49 range from LOTW and bunches of smaller lakes in Wisconsin. The heaviest was just under 40 pounds but a little shorter than the 49 incher--fat beyond belief! It came from a little 200 acre glacial lake in upper Wisconsin. It had been eating carp as the primary prey species!

Here is the deal. The overall warmer water temperatures coupled with a longer warm water period and a solid prey species base lets the muskies grow large MUCH MORE QUICKLY in Missouri or Kentucky than they do in Minnesota or Canada. So you get relatively large fish in a much shorter time.

However, here is the down side. This increase in water temps for many more months of the year keeps the metabolism going for them. This ultimately leads to a shortened life span. Where as a top end ski may be 15-18 years old in Minnesota or Wisconsin the higher metabolic rate in warmer waters causes the muskies to die off at a younger age. A ten year old muskie in Missouri is probably near the end of its life. This means they will never reach the status of a 55-60 pound fish. Muskies of the 50-60 pound calibre are rare gems under ANY circumstance....but the metabolic rate of warmer waters makes it impossible in more southern climes.

So whether it is a 45 incher on open water in Missouri on December 14th, or a 50 incher on the upper Mississippi or LOTW the last week of August... just count me in for the ride!!!